Georgia Southern 4, UNCG 1

STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern’s men’s soccer team ended a 10-game winless streak on Tuesday night with a 4-1 victory over two-time defending regular-season Southern Conference champion UNCG at Eagle Field. Hunter Norton scored twice in the first half to put the Eagles up early, while Eric Dinka and Rocco Bagley scored their first career goals in the second half to clinch the win.

Norton put the Eagles up 1-0 in the fifth minute by finishing a corner kick attack. The corner was played into the box and headed out to the top of the area by the UNCG defense. Dinka volleyed the clearance back toward goal where it was saved wide by Spartan goalkeeper Peyton Ford. The rebound came to Norton, who scored his second goal of the year into the opposite corner of the net.

Norton put the Eagles up 2-0 in the 33rd minute with his second goal of the evening. He headed home a corner kick from Seth Prieto for his third tally of the season.

The Spartans tried to answer back in the 34th minute off a corner kick of their own. Junior Maximilian Schulz sent the ball into the box, where redshirt freshman Dustin Gamradt rose up and got a head on the ball, but Eagle goalkeeper Neal Bates was there to thwart the effort.

Georgia Southern had control of the game in the first half, outshooting UNCG 10-5 and holding a 6-3 lead in shots on goal.

The Spartans responded in the first 10 minutes of the second half with five shots early in the period. That advantage would fade as the Eagles forced them back into the attacking third.

Dinka opened his career scoring account just before the hour mark with a tremendous shot across is body. The freshman dribbled across the UNCG back line at the top of the penalty box, finding enough space to rip the left-footed shot across his body for his first career goal.

The Eagles tacked on a fourth goal in the 79th minute of play to take a 4-0 lead as Bagley scored his first career goal against reserve goalkeeper Stephen Moffitt.

Less than five minutes later, UNCG scored its first goal of the evening as Preston Ford produced a header off a corner kick from Lukas Zarges that cut the Eagle advantage to 4-1.

The goal, however, did not diminish the Eagle victory, their first over UNCG since the 2008 season and just the second in 22 previous meetings. GSU finished the match with 18 shots to UNCG’s 15 attempts.

Bates and Peyton Ford finished with six saves each.

The Eagles enter the home stretch of conference play on Saturday night with a trip to Wofford. Southern is back at home on Tuesday evening to face Furman at 7 p.m. before traveling to College of Charleston on Saturday, Oct. 27. UNCG continues SoCon play Saturday night as the Spartans travel to Furman for their final regular-season road game of the year. Game time is set for 6 p.m.

 

College of Charleston 3, Elon 2

ELON, N.C. – The College of Charleston men’s soccer team took down Elon, 3-2, to move into first place in the Southern Conference standings at Rudd Field on Tuesday evening.

The Cougars (7-8-0, 3-1-0 SoCon) jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Elon (9-4-1, 3-2 SoCon) was granted – and converted – two penalty kicks to equalize, but CofC answered once more with the eventual game winner. All goals were scored in the first half.

CofC took the early lead when Luke Huggett found a ball from Sean de Silva and put it into the net off of a deflection from the Elon keeper. The 10^th-minute goal was Huggett’s third of the season.

In the 20th minute, CofC put a cross into the box and benefitted from the Phoenix misplaying the ball into their own goal to get the Cougars up 2-0.

The tide of the match seemed to turn when Elon was granted back-to-back penalty kicks around the 25th minute of the match. The nation’s leading scorer, Chris Thomas, converted both kicks – separated by 1:52 of game clock – to equalize the match with his 18th and 19th goals of the season.

The Cougars regrouped and remained attack-minded and saw their efforts pay off yet again when, in the 35th minute, Ralphie Lundy gathered a rebound and sent the ball to Connor Coons, who put the ball into the net for his first goal of the season and ultimately the game-winner.

Elon was heavy on the attack in the second period, but the Cougars weathered their attempts with Kees Heemskerk making two big second-half saves to preserve the win. Elon’s best opportunity for a goal came in the 87th minute, but James Brace’s attempt in the box went high over the keeper.

The Cougars were outshot 12-6 in the contest but found more quality in their attempts as both sides put five shots on the target.

The match was the Cougars’ final road game of the season and, with the win, the Cougars moved into first place in the SoCon standings.

CofC ends the season with a three-match homestand beginning with Davidson on Saturday. The Cougars and Wildcats kick off at 7 p.m. at Patriots Point. Elon will return to the pitch on Saturday in Boone, N.C., for SoCon action against Appalachian State. That match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. The match marks Elon’s first at ASU Soccer Stadium since winning the SoCon Tournament title on the field last November.

 

Furman 2, Davidson 1

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Juniors Martin Ontiveros and Michael Gandier each scored for Furman as the Paladins extended their home unbeaten run to 16 matches (13-0-3) with a 2-1 triumph over Davidson in Southern Conference men’s soccer action on Tuesday evening at Stone Stadium.

Ontiveros, a native of Pharr, Texas, put the Paladins in front from the penalty spot at the 42:52 mark after Chris Duggan drew a foul as he slipped behind his defender near the left corner of the 18-yard box.

Ontiveros’ penalty kick was his third in three tries this season and marked his team-leading eighth goal of the 2012 campaign.

Furman (10-2-3, 2-1-1 SoCon) doubled its lead with just 11 minutes remaining in regulation on a set piece.  Ontiveros curled a corner kick toward the top of the six-yard box and Gandier flicked a header inside the far, right-hand post for his third goal in the last three matches.

Davidson (6-7-1, 2-3-0 SoCon) trimmed the margin to 2-1 with only 1:03 left to play when Ryan Malden ran onto a loose ball near the top of the box and lined a shot past Paladin goalkeeper Doug Ryan for his second goal of the season. Furman’s defense ran out the final minute to secure the team’s second SoCon victory of the year.

Furman controlled the majority of the possession on the night and compiled a 10-6 edge in shot attempts, including a 5-2 advantage in shots on goal.

Matt Pacifici totaled three saves for Davidson in the loss while Ryan stopped one shot to secure his 10th victory in goal for the Paladins.

Furman plays its final home match of the season on Saturday when it hosts rival UNCG at Stone Stadium.  The match, part of Furman’s Homecoming Weekend activities, kicks off at 6 p.m. Davidson will continue conference play and its six-game road trip to conclude the regular season with a 7 p.m. contest at College of Charleston on Saturday.

 

Appalachian State 1, Belmont 0

BOONE, N.C. – Senior David Dodge’s goal in the 47th was all Appalachian State’s men’s soccer team needed, as the Mountaineers recorded their seventh shutout of the season by defeating Belmont, 1-0, on Tuesday night at the Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex.

With the victory, the Mountaineers moved to 5-6-3 on the season, while the Bruins dropped to 5-8-2.

After a slow opening half that saw just one shot on goal for both teams, the pace picked up in the second half. Just a minute after the start of the second half, Appalachian was awarded a free kick. Sophomore Patrick Harrow sent the ball to the far post. Freshman forward Ewahia Amhanesi got his head to ball, flicking it to Dodge, who tallied his third goal of the season.

Amhanesi had a chance eight minutes after the goal when he stole the ball from Belmont’s Anthony Torres. The freshman fired a shot, but Belmont goalkeeper Lou Manning punched the ball away. Amhanesi was able to get the bouncing rebound, but his header went over the bar.

The rest of the half was physical as the rest of the match saw four yellow cards between the teams. A late foul was given to Belmont with just three seconds left in the match, setting the Bruins up with a free kick outside the Appalachian box. As the free kick came in, Belmont’s Cody Carpenter’s knocked a shot off the post as the ball bounced out of play, clinching the match for App State.

Sophomore goalkeeper Paul West earned his first victory and second shutout of the season. West made three saves on the night, seeing 10 shots total. The Mountaineers notched four shots on goal by four different players.

The Black and Gold returns to the Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex on Saturday against Elon, as the Mountaineers will play back-to-back home matches for the first time this season. Kickoff has been changed from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.